Ryan's Headphone Review Thread

Ryanr1987 · 28 Oct 2014 at 14:14

To be honest I can't really see any upgrades that are not HD800 priced being available. The Q701 in terms of detail, refinement is pretty under priced IMO compared to other headphones. You should look into seething to compliment them like HE500 or something similar?

As for the new Sony flagship I'm very much interested. The price however is a bit scary. The Alpha Prime is due soon and I think Dan Mrspeakers is taking the piddles. Basically $999 for the Alpha dog housing and tuning on the driver....

rids57 · 28 Oct 2014 at 14:19

no different to AKG doubling the price of the K702 by adding memory foam ear pads for the Annie - it's audiophiliosis (made up word)

Ryanr1987 · 28 Oct 2014 at 15:09

At least the Annie has different pads, different grills and a bumbless headband and different foams and a slightly different tuning The Prime is the same as the other dog but just a different tuning and that's nearly double the price of the $600 Alpha dog.

Ninja Pirate · 28 Oct 2014 at 16:25

Ryanr1987 said:
At least the Annie has different pads, different grills and a bumbless headband and different foams and a slightly different tuning The Prime is the same as the other dog but just a different tuning and that's nearly double the price of the $600 Alpha dog.

Hahaha, $1k for a T50RP, get real.

I'm very curious to see if anyone can actually find out what 'tuning' Dan has actually done to the drivers (everything else is the same afaik). The email I got did mention that there is the possibility of the driver failing if you send in your Alphas to do the Prime upgrade. I wonder if it's just using better quality/closer matched drivers with some kind of evolution of the Doggy treats (additional dampening on the driver.

rids57 · 28 Oct 2014 at 18:17

Ryanr1987 said:
At least the Annie has different pads, different grills and a bumbless headband and different foams and a slightly different tuning The Prime is the same as the other dog but just a different tuning and that's nearly double the price of the $600 Alpha dog.

The K702 already has a bumpless headband, it got changed when the Annie became available, the only difference in the grills is that the Annie has a little K702 badge and the drivers are the same but the ones for the Annie are hand picked.

That leaves the cushions and internal foam to account for the huge price difference.

Ryanr1987 · 28 Oct 2014 at 21:11

Ninja Pirate said:
Hahaha, $1k for a T50RP, get real.

I'm very curious to see if anyone can actually find out what 'tuning' Dan has actually done to the drivers (everything else is the same afaik). The email I got did mention that there is the possibility of the driver failing if you send in your Alphas to do the Prime upgrade. I wonder if it's just using better quality/closer matched drivers with some kind of evolution of the Doggy treats (additional dampening on the driver.

It's ridiculous. Dan's kept it quiet, smart man. Yeah I was thinking that also for the tuning. The housing is completely 100% identical to the AD. He's really taking the mick by charging that much. I loved the Mad Dog mainly the 3.0 and 3.1 man those mids but when they start overcharging like they are with the Prime I just can't help but roll my eyes. Some of the modders will figure it out one day.

Ryanr1987 · 28 Oct 2014 at 21:25

rids57 said:
The K702 already has a bumpless headband, it got changed when the Annie became available, the only difference in the grills is that the Annie has a little K702 badge and the drivers are the same but the ones for the Annie are hand picked.

That leaves the cushions and internal foam to account for the huge price difference.

The Annie's leather is a bit more plush and higher grade. The grills are different on the Annie where the badge is, nothing drastic at all though! It's the same as the K712 Pro. They feel slightly different to the other K700 models in the hand.

No one knows what the driver differences are just speculation. All I know is the K702 with Annie pads isn't the Annie exactly. It's a dryer headphone like the K701. I didn't like it.

The Q701 with Annie pads and K712 foam is 95% there, some won't tell the difference but a trained ear will notice the slight difference so it's exaggeration really but there's a tiny amount of smoothness to the drivers in the Annie that makes the treble dark.

The K701 is the driest, most detailed, and spacious of them all. I think they are the base of the treble happy K712 personally. SCREW AKG I've spent hours comparing their stupid products.

TwsT · 28 Oct 2014 at 21:45

TIL

buy Senn hd 800 and be done with it

Ninja Pirate · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:01

TwsT said:
TIL

buy Senn hd 800 and be done with it

Properly modded, yes, the HD 800 is pretty much end game for most people.

mrk · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:04

What mods are there for the HD800? Why does perfection need to be modded

If my 2 watches on sale go for what I imagine they should then I'll have immediate disposable cash to get the HD800 in from Amazon and try them out. Their returns are A+ so it's an easy win if I do like them in orders of magnitude. Might as well make the end game can come home early eh

rids57 · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:17

yes but then you'll start wondering if the NAD is up to driving them to their limit, which it almost certainly isn't.

rids57 · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:19

Ryanr1987 said:
SCREW AKG I've spent hours comparing their stupid products.

Good call, I'll shut up on the matter too.

AKG are so secretive about the differences between models I doubt we'll ever know for certain what they did.

mrk · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:20

What ohms is the HD800? I haven't checked but the NAD will drive 600Ohm Beyers no problem as one owner on Headfi confirmed a while back.

rids57 · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:37

According to many threads on Head-Fi the 800 is quite picky about amps, not impedance but how the two work together, synergy I suppose. I've not heard them myself, just going by what I've read, maybe Ninja and Ryan will know more on the subject.

mrk · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:40

Hmm. Someone needs to put it together with a D 3020 to see what it's like. I want to do this

NAD amps tend to be very headphone friendly in terms of being paired up and I haven't seen a bad pairing yet.

Ninja Pirate · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:57

mrk said:
What mods are there for the HD800? Why does perfection need to be modded

The primary mod is the Anax 2.0: http://www.changstar.com/index.php?topic=497.0

Essentially it lifts up the bass (without making it muddy) and the upper mid range/lower treble which makes it a smoother/warmer headphone overall while still being fairly bright and detailed.

mrk said:
What ohms is the HD800? I haven't checked but the NAD will drive 600Ohm Beyers no problem as one owner on Headfi confirmed a while back.

Sennheiser specs the HD 800 at 300 Ohms but measurements indicate that it's closer to 350 Ohms with a large impedance hump in the mid bass region.

I should point out that impedance ratings aren't nearly as important as headphone sensitivity when determining how much power a headphone needs (after all speakers tend to have a nominal impedance of 4 or 8 ohms).

Having said that I have no idea whether your NAD setup would be a good pairing with the HD 800. The HD 800 is fairly easy to drive (especially when compared to some of the planar magnetic designs) but people often say it's 'picky' about amplification due to it's inherently bright nature. It's one of the reasons why OTL's and the warmer SS amps like Violectrics range (they are fantastic by the way) get recommended for the HD 800 over more neutral/brighter amps.

DJ_Bucho · 29 Oct 2014 at 07:43

Ryanr,
After reading your review I'm seriously considering buying a pair of AGK K702 as I want a really good pair of headphones for competitive gaming. However they are a sizable amount of money and one thing concerns me, in your review of the AKG K702/K701 (and some of your other reviews) you refer to a Mixamp, what actually is this and do I have to get one in order to use these headphones.
I have to admit I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to headphones and Audio in general, but I really want a headphone that gives me great positional awareness when playing competitive games such as Call Of Duty.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

mrk · 29 Oct 2014 at 08:20

I have no intention of changing the NAD as I have full confidence in its abilities so only one way to find out how it pairs I guess.

Ninja Pirate · 29 Oct 2014 at 09:28

mrk said:
I have no intention of changing the NAD as I have full confidence in its abilities so only one way to find out how it pairs I guess.

Fair enough, if you like what you got, stick with it.

If possible I would recommend you try and demo the HD 800 with your amp before buying, even if you have to drive a ways to find a pair (after all it's a £1k purchase).

Ryanr1987 · 29 Oct 2014 at 09:35

DJ_Bucho said:
Ryanr,
After reading your review I'm seriously considering buying a pair of AGK K702 as I want a really good pair of headphones for competitive gaming. However they are a sizable amount of money and one thing concerns me, in your review of the AKG K702/K701 (and some of your other reviews) you refer to a Mixamp, what actually is this and do I have to get one in order to use these headphones.
I have to admit I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to headphones and Audio in general, but I really want a headphone that gives me great positional awareness when playing competitive games such as Call Of Duty.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

A Mixamp is an amp that has Dolby Headphone built in. It pairs well with those spacious analytical headphones giving you a huge soundscape.

If you want the absolute best for competitive play the K701 is your headphone. In stereo they sound similar to the 702 but the 701 has an endless soundstage. In general dry, bright headphones go well with the mixamp and make the best gaming headphones.